


never saw this coming

by Antisocial_Butterfli (orphan_account)



Series: better half of me [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Billy Hargrove Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Flirting, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, No Beta, We Die Like Men, and he’s okay with it, be careful babes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 18:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21213026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Antisocial_Butterfli
Summary: He’s been subtly (yeah right) working on getting into this guy’s form fitting pants ever since that Halloween party. He internally thanks whatever higher power is out there that he’d just finished getting ready for a party when his dad had ‘kindly’ ordered him to find Maxine and that he looks as good as he does right now. Maybe something good will come out of his formerly shitty night after all.





	never saw this coming

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic in a while! Be nice y’all. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also! Seriously thinking of making this a series. Comment/Kudos if you think it’s a good idea... I’m an attention whore.

The absolute last thing Billy expects to see when the door to the Wheeler’s house opens is Steve Fucking Harrington with flour smeared across his cheek and a dish towel thrown over his shoulder.

Though, he can’t say he’s disappointed.

He’s been subtly (yeah right) working on getting into this guy’s form fitting pants ever since that Halloween party. He internally thanks whatever higher power is out there that he’d just finished getting ready for a party when his dad had ‘kindly’ ordered him to find Maxine and that he looks as good as he does right now. Maybe something good will come out of his formerly shitty night after all.

“Hi,” he grins and lets his eyes wander down the length of Harrington’s body, just barely resisting the urge to groan in appreciation, before meeting his eyes again.

Harrington looks surprised to see him, and he only gets to admire the view for a second—plump lips just slightly parted, a pretty pink blush forming on his cheeks at Billy’s obvious admiration, and his round doe eyes a little wider than usual—before a timer goes off from inside the house and panic takes over.

“Shit,” he waves him inside the house distractedly and disappears around a corner, “lock the door behind you!”

Billy is focusing most of his attention on calming himself down after watching Harrington walk away—give him a break, he’s only a man for god’s sake—so he just follows directions without being snippy for once.

He follows the sound of pots and pans clanging and finds Harrington in the kitchen, trying (and failing) to pull a tray of cookies from the oven while simultaneously stirring something with a wooden spoon on the stovetop.

Like an instinct, Billy strides forward and takes the spoon from him, taking over the stirring, allowing him to use both hands for the cookies. “You’re a mess, Harrington.”

He only scoffs in response to that and starts placing cookies on the cooling rack.

“What are you doing here, Hargrove?”

“I could ask you the same question, pretty boy,” Billy grins. “How much longer do I need to stir this?”

Harrington leans over to look into the pot, “You can stop. Take it off the flame while you’re at it.”

Billy does as he’s told, turning off the flame and moving the pot to a different burner. He puts one hand in his pocket and leans against the counter next to Harrington in a way he knows will bring attention to where his chest is exposed. “You didn’t answer the first question.”

“Neither did you,” he says in a bratty tone, “and I asked you first.”

“You think you’re cute, don’t you, Harrington?”

“I mean… yeah. Kinda.”

Their easy back and forth makes Billy giddy enough to widen his grin and stick his tongue out, licking his lips obscenely just like he did during practice. He’s never been this easy to rile up for anyone. It seems to be something only Harrington can bring out of him. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

All he gets for that is a narrowed side glance and pursed lips. Harrington’s such a _bitch_. Billy fucking _loves _it.

He finishes placing the cookies on the rack, and leans against the counter as well, his arms crossed, “I’ll ask again: What are you doing here, Hargrove?”

Billy takes a cookie, ignoring Harrington’s protest, and bites into it slowly, all without breaking eye contact. Harrington huffs and raises his eyebrows at him, making him grin once again. He licks his lips slowly, feeling his ego double in size when Harrington tracks the movement. He raises a hand and brushes the flour from Harrington’s cheek with his thumb, his fingers cradling the back of his neck. 

Just as he’s about to answer, probably to say something inappropriate, a soft cry interrupts him.

Both their heads snap toward the sound at the same time, Billy snatching his hand back. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen is a little girl with long, blonde pigtails, clutching a pink blanket and rubbing at her eyes.

_What the fuck?_, Billy thinks, his eyebrows pulled together. He turns to Harrington to voice this but the words get stuck in his throat when he sees the fond look on his face.

“Hello, Miss Holly,” he says in the softest voice Billy’s ever heard from him, pushing off the counter when the girl, _Holly_, reaches her arms out in his direction. He picks her up and she immediately wraps her arms around his neck and burrows her face there. “Did I wake you up?” he asks her softly.

She nods from where her face is still smushed into his neck and he chuckles and apologizes quietly, and Billy feels his heart beat quicken in a way he doesn’t completely recognize.

Because the thing is.

Harrington is hot.

Like, incredibly sexy.

Ever since Billy saw him that first time, sitting in a car with Wheeler, he’s been determined to take a ride on all 5’11” of him. That plan was only solidified once he saw him in those tiny basketball shorts and heard Tommy call him _King Steve_. Catching him in the shower had been a gift directly from god. So, having his heart rate quicken at the sight of him isn’t exactly new.

But now, seeing him rock this tiny girl in his arms, and talk to her softly—he suddenly realizes he’s fucked.

Because, dammit.

He _likes_ Harrington. And judging by the way he’s not freaking out in a more obvious way, he has for a while.

Billy clears his throat, which is suddenly as dry as the fucking Sahara. This seems to jolt Harrington into remembering that he has an audience if the way he freezes is anything to go by.

He slowly turns back towards Billy, who quickly schools his face into a mask of indifference thanks to years of practice (thanks dad).

He takes another bite of his stolen cookie, finishing it, and smirks a little as he chews. “I stopped by to see if my step-sister was here. Rumor has it, she’s been hanging around with Mike Wheeler and his band of freaks.”

Harrington’s face is a mixture of bafflement and a bit of anger. “I didn’t know you had a sister,” he covers Holly’s ears, even though she’s started snoring softly, “and they’re not freaks, _asshole_.”

“_Step_-sister,” he corrects, “and I never said they were. I was just quoting what I heard.” He’s an asshole, but he’s not that much of an asshole that he’d call a bunch of 13 year olds freaks without at least meeting them first.

Harrington looks at him skeptically, which is fair. He’s not exactly known for giving people the benefit of the doubt, or for being anything that even resembles nice. Billy decides to change the subject, “Her name is Maxine. She here?”

Harrington nods, and continues rocking Holly when she starts to stir a little, “She’s in the basement with the rest of the party.”

Billy furrows his eyebrows, “The party?”

“It’s a Dungeons and Dragons thing,” he purses his lips, “I think.”

Billy exhales on a laugh and looks at the floor, decides after a moment not to voice his thoughts on it.

When he looks back up, Harrington is looking at him with an odd expression on his face that Billy can’t quite interpret. He decides to ignore it for now, remembering why he’s there in the first place. As much as he’d love to stay and make Harrington blush all night long, he does have other, more dangerous things to worry about. “Do you mind getting her? I have to take her home before her mother has an aneurysm.” And his father kills him.

Harrington snaps out of his daze and nods again, “Sure, just gimme a sec to go put Holly back to bed and I’ll go get Max. I should probably be sending the rest of the kids home anyway.”

With that, Harrington walks out of the kitchen, a sleeping Holly balanced on his hip.

Billy exhales a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. Steve Harrington is gonna be the death of him. He might be okay with that.

It’s a couple minutes later, right in the middle of Billy’s second consecutive internal freak out about having a crush on Harrington, he hears the commotion of several pairs of feet running up stairs and the voices of complaining prepubescent teens. Oddly enough, it’s amusing rather than annoying.

A second later, six teenagers (barely), including Max, are stumbling into the kitchen, followed by Harrington. None of them acknowledge him except for Max, who looks a little nervous to see him, her eyes flicking over his face like she’s looking for something. She won’t find anything visible. Another girl with short, curly hair is the only other who notices he’s there, her eyes staring into his so intensely he feels the need to look away, though he doesn’t. When she finally looks away, he gets the distinct impression that he’s just been completely dissected and figured out.

“I can’t believe you’re just gonna ruin a good time like that, Steve,” says a curly-haired kid in a baseball cap, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment.

Harrington rolls his eyes, though it’s noticeably fond rather than actually annoyed, “Shut it, Henderson. Your mom called like twenty minutes ago and said she wanted you home within the hour.”

A darker skinned kid snickers next to him.

Harrington puts his hands on his hips and gives the kid a look that Billy could only describe as ‘scolding mother’, “Laugh it up, Sinclair. Your mom did the same thing.”

He immediately stops laughing and just glares at Harrington. Max starts cackling next to him, which almost makes Billy want to smile. She hasn’t laughed like that since they left California.

Harrington ignores the glare, “Hop should be here to pick you and El up in about ten minutes, Will. I made some Mac and Cheese for all of you guys before you leave.”

“Thanks, Steve,” says the kid with a, frankly, horrendous haircut, who Billy assumes is Will.

All the kids, except for Max, team up and take the pot Billy had been stirring, the bowls he hadn’t noticed on the counter, and the entire rack of cookies, heading into the dining room. Max looks at him with an expression on her face that’s a mix of hesitation and hope. Billy sighs and jerks his head in the direction they all went, signaling her to join them. A few more minutes won’t hurt. He’s screwed either way. She smiles a little and walks away, punching Harrington in the arm as she passes him.

Harrington stumbles back a little and rubs his arm at the spot she hit, giving Billy a look that conveys, _what the hell?_, perfectly. Billy smirks, “That’s how she shows affection.”

He huffs and takes the towel from his shoulder and starts cleaning up a little. Billy watches him for a minute before he asks the question he’s been meaning to since Holly interrupted their flirting, “Since when did you become a babysitter?”

Harrington stops what he’s doing and glances up at him through his eyelashes. Billy vaguely thinks it should be illegal to be as pretty as this boy is.

“I’m not usually,” Harrington says, throwing the towel over his shoulder again and leaning back against the counter across from Billy, who hasn’t moved this entire time, “I offered because Nancy and Jonathan have been planning the camping trip they’re on right now for weeks and tonight is Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s weekly date night.”

Billy hums, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth, “You just offered out of the goodness of your heart?”

Harrington rolls his eyes, “Hanging with these kids actually isn’t that bad,” he defends, “besides, it’s not like I had anything better to do.”

“Really? King Steve doesn’t have _anything _to do on a Saturday night?”

The nickname startles a surprised laugh out of Harrington, which makes Billy’s stomach clench and his heart flutter. He decides to ignore the reaction for now and analyze it later. When he’s alone. And not in the presence of the prettiest boy he’s ever seen, and in serious danger of popping a boner with six kids only a few feet away. When did he become such a fucking sap, anyway?

“I did get an invite to a party, but I wasn’t really in the partying mood.”

Billy hums again, surprised how much he can relate to that in the moment. He’d much rather be here in the Wheeler’s kitchen talking to Harrington than at that stupid party anyway, “Are you planning on making this babysitting gig last throughout the summer? Since you’re apparently too good for parties now.”

Harrington laughs again and shakes his head at Billy. Something mischievous flashes across his face that makes Billy feel slightly apprehensive but also a lot turned on.

“I actually got a job at the new mall. Starting Monday I’ll be serving bratty kids and teenagers ice cream at Scoops Ahoy,” he smirks, “I get to wear a little sailor’s outfit and everything to match the theme.”

Billy’s gulps, trying to force that image from his mind until he’s alone. He’s not very successful. He shifts a little, trying to subtly adjust himself without actually reaching down to do it. From the way Harrington’s eyes drop down for a second and his smirk widens into something more like a grin, he definitely notices. Billy’s surprised by how much he doesn’t mind Harrington knowing what he does to him.

“How about you, Hargrove?”

Billy feels his smirk return. _Payback_. “I’m gonna work as a lifeguard at the community pool four days a week.”

Harrington’s grin drops and he inhales deeply, his eyes dropping to his already exposed chest and that pretty pink blush Billy loves so much coloring his pale cheeks at whatever it is he’s imagining. He swallows a little roughly and looks up at him through his eyelashes shyly, “Maybe I should take the kids there whenever I’m not working.”

Billy stares at him for a moment and then bites his lip to contain the ecstatic grin threatening to take over his face. He fails, “Maybe you should.”

They stare at each other in silence with heat in their eyes and matching grins before the sound of someone knocking on the front door breaks the moment.

Suddenly, the kitchen is full of kids saying goodbye to Harrington, most of them waving, others hugging.

Billy takes this as his queue to leave as well and subtly throws a wink and his signature tongue waggle Harrington’s way, earning him another blush and a stuttered goodbye.

He considers it a win and herds Max out the front door and into the car.

When he glances at her as they’re driving home, he realizes she’s smiling to herself. He taps his steering wheel a few times and reaches over to flick her ear, effectively getting her attention. She swats his hand away and glares at him with less aggression than usual, “What?”

“How do you feel about getting ice cream at the mall on Monday?”

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://anti-social-prettyboy.tumblr.com/post/188643191252/never-saw-this-coming-ao3-the-absolute)  

> 
> Reblog and scream at me maybe?? Jk.... unless?


End file.
